Tony Bryant

Few cities capture the heart of a visitor quite like Seville. The capital of Andalusia is a place where history, culture and modern Spanish life come together to create an unforgettable experience. The city's rich history is immediately visible in its spectacular architecture, something which has captivated travellers since the early 19th century. The impressive Seville Cathedral, one of the world's largest Gothic churches, dominates the skyline, while the iconic Giralda tower rewards those who climb it with breathtaking views. Throughout the year, the city comes alive with famous celebrations such as Semana Santa, something that also attracted the attention of the 19th century romantic travellers, such as Richard Ford. Along with the world-famous Feria de Abril, these festivals fill the streets with tradition, music and spectacular displays that have long attracted visitors from across the globe. What truly makes Seville so captivating, however, is its atmosphere. Welcom...

  This year marks the 20th anniversary of Flamenco: An Englishman’s Passion, the book that marked my first step into the world of flamenco writing . My intention in undertaking the journey that led to the publication of this book was to help readers understand and appreciate the art of flamenco. I have sought to explain the distinction between traditional flamenco song and dance, performed by non-professionals, and the commercialised form of flamenco seen on the stage. My main aim has been to illuminate the two profoundly different faces of flamenco: the glittering, theatrical spectacle and the cante jondo - the deep, soulful songs that have existed in Andalusia for some five centuries. To truly understand flamenco, one must experience the spontaneous, raw emotion of its purest form, so far removed from much of what dominates the modern scene. It is important to remember that flamenco is an ancient art, preserved through generations by ordinary people who have used it as a powerf...

Many visitors coming to Seville for the first time tend to focus on its most famous landmarks, such as Plaza de España, the cathedral and La Giralda or the Alcázar fortress. However, few people - unless they are particularly interested in Mérimée’s Carmen -  spend much time admiring the old tobacco factory on Calle San Fernando. Today, the building, a remarkable example of 18th-century industrial architecture, houses part of Seville University, but it continues to attract a steady flow of tourists wanting a picture of the workplace of Seville’s famous cigarette girls. At the time of its construction, the 18th-century tobacco factory was the second largest building in Spain, after El Escorial, the royal residence in Madrid. The factory was built just outside the city walls on an old Roman burial site close to the Puerta de Jerez, an area that Richard Ford described as the ‘dunghill of the city’. Construction began in 1728 and took 30 years to complete, and it remains one of ...

None of the early romantic writers who visited Seville, such as Byron, Disraeli, Ford, Borrow and Irving, had the privilege of experiencing the, now, world-famous feria de abril , because they had all left Spain by the time the first April fair was held in Prado de San Sebastian in 1847. This grand display of culture, tradition, revelry and pride blend together to create a unique spectacle that typifies Seville . Even Franco, known to frown upon large-scale celebrations with no religious aspect attached, enjoyed the marvels that this week of colourful festivities has to offer. It has attracted world leaders, celebrities, artists and aristocracy from all over the world, along with numerous members of the Spanish monarchy. The fair was the brainchild of two businessman from the north of Spain who had settled in the city. Narciso Bonaplata (Cataluña) and José María de Ybarra (Basque Country) proposed a livestock and agricultural fair in the summer of 1846, and it was given the o...

English travel writer Richard Ford (1796 - 1858) was  immediately captivated by Seville’s mystique when he visited in the 19 th century, claiming it was his preferred Spanish city. Ford noted that the cathedral offers ‘a most interesting epitome of the rise, progress and decline of Spanish church architecture’. Born into a wealthy family in Chelsea, London, Ford was educated at Oxford. His first trip to Spain with his first wife, Harriet, in 1830, resulted in A Handbook for Travellers in Spain , which was published 1845. The book has been republished numerous times and is still considered one the greatest pieces of travel literature ever published. Following the premature death of his second son, and the consequent depression and decline in Harriet's health, Ford decided to spend the winter in a more suitable climate. After consulting several friends, like William Mark, English consul in Málaga, and Henry Unwin Addington, British ambassador in Madrid, Ford decided that southern S...

  With perhaps the exception of Ernest Hemingway, most foreign artistic luminaries who have passed through Seville over the last two hundred years claimed to have been seduced by its romantic allure and overwhelmed by its historic, religious and architectural wealth . Seville’s colourful customs and traditions also appealed to these foreign visitors, especially the Englishman, Richard Ford, who is said to have completely integrated into Sevillian society, even to the extent of adopting the typical attire of the period: this was in contrast to the traditional dress chosen among the 19 th century upper classes of London from which Ford descended. Spain acquired a European vogue during what is called the ‘romantic era’, a time when the theorisers of the romantism movements in the UK, France and Germany began to discover Spanish literature, in particular, Cervante’s Don Quijote . This period offered foreign artistes a rich source of themes and settings inspired by Andalucía and its ...

  Numerous romantic travellers and foreign writers and artists began to include Andalucía in what was termed the ‘Grand Tour’ in the first quarter of the 19 th century. Most of these foreigners, like Lord Byron, Richard Ford, Robert Dundas Murray and Washington Irving, headed straight for Seville, a city which, until then, was little known to the outside world. Many books have since been published about the history of Seville, including those by the aforementioned foreigners: these offer an insight to Seville and its architecture, its culture and traditions and its religious and social backcloth, much of which is still standing, both structurally and culturally. The majority of these romantic travellers arrived in Seville aboard a steamboat along the Guadalquivir, although the skyline that confronted them has changed greatly since that time. Since then, most of the fortified walls and gateways have vanished, and sprawling areas like Plaza de España and Parque María Luisa have ap...

  Preface - Seville: A legacy of enchantment The idea for this book was born while admiring the splendorous Plaza de España, something I have enjoyed on numerous occasions over the last 30 years. This inspirational collection of architecture, one of the largest and most impressive in Seville, was constructed for the world exhibition that the city hosted in 1929, an event that changed the face of the city centre and pinned Seville on the world map. But it was not the elegance and beauty of this area, known as the Venice of Seville, that inspired me, but the thought of what Seville would be like without it. My fascination with Seville began many years ago while researching the art of flamenco and the people who best perform it, the Andalusian Gypsies. This was a time when I relied on the writings of Richard Ford, the 19 th century English travel writer known for his books about Spain; and George Borrow, another Englishman whose books, The Bible in Spain , and The Zincali, were ...

  How can it be? My earliest memories of my family are of the warmth of my mother, the smile of my father, the glance of my aunt, the affection of my cousins and the love of my brothers. I remember that my ancestors intrigued me and I would wonder how they had lived and what had been their beliefs and their preoccupations, and I wondered if these things were just Gypsy things or the things of everyday people. My father taught me that to be Gypsy was to be no better or worse than anybody else, but he said it was something different to live the life with freedom, and he stressed that the respect for others was fundamental, especially the older generation, because they are the source of our wisdom. The first references I have of flamenco are from my parents, and the figure that was most emphasised was my great grandfather, Fernando Peña Soto – El Pinini. They said that he was a Gypsy born in Lebrija and that he had come to live in Utrera when he was eight-years old. It was sai...

Elizabeth Zeder - Karl Smallman I seldom get excited when asked to review the recording of a cover version of a song of which I am particularly fond of the original. I am a staunch believer that original versions cannot be bettered. How can a cover version be better than what the composer originally envisaged for their music? Of course, there are exceptions, but few and far between. What is even more difficult is when the request for a critical ear comes from a friend, acquaintance or someone I respect. As I said, there are, occasionally, exceptions to the rule, one of which landed on my desk recently.  Last year, I had the pleasure of interviewing Elizabeth Zeder, an American jazz singer based in Gaucín. Elizabeth has established herself among what is fast becoming a thriving music community in the Serranía de Ronda (Málaga), and so she had no trouble selecting suitable musicians to participate in the recording of her latest offering, a jazzy-pop-style version of Harvest Moon. ...

  Last year, the town of Utrera (Seville) marked the 100 th anniversary of the birth of La Fernanda de Utrera, who was born at 22 Calle Nueva on 9 February 1923, with a series of cultural initiatives. Flamenco recitals, exhibitions and tertulias about this outstanding flamenco singer and her sister, La Bernarda, took place at various locations in the town throughout the year. One of the most eagerly awaited of these initiatives was a documentary about these two divas that was to be made by La Filmahora, with the collaboration of Canal Sur television, and Utrera town hall, among others. [1] I had been contacted by the producer, Rocio Martín, who asked if I would like to participate, an offer which I accepted wholeheartedly. Rocío had previously contacted my good friend Luis El Marquesito to obtain information about the family, especially the line of Inés Peña Vargas, the mother of La Fernanda and La Bernarda, and the daughter of the mythical El Pinini, a singer whose family ...

  Flamenco; an Englishman’s passion was my first foray into the world of flamenco, a book that I was very privileged to have published by flamenco sapiens , the editorial arm of the Museo del Baile Flamenco in Seville. Since its first publication in the summer of 2006, just a few months after this state-of-the-art museum (the first and only one of its kind in the world) opened its doors, the book has become the one that my career as a writer has been most associated with. I have since completed a trilogy of books concerning the art of flamenco and the people who (in my humble opinion) best perform it – the Andalusian Gypsies, but it the first book - celebrating its 18 th birthday, or coming of age, this year - that is the one that has received the most attention. Some of the literary platforms like Good Reads claimed that the book “ taps into flamenco's history and is a great learning resource for anyone with an interest in flamenco”; while Google Books said, “ This book p...